1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of networked computers and telephones; and more particularly to a system and method that supports multimedia communications across at least one communication network.
2. Related Art
Computer networks are generally known in the art to service computer to computer communications. In a computer network, communication paths/links provide an electronic path between computers over which electronic information is passed. A group of computers connected by one or more communication links therefor form a computer network. Computer networks support a great variety of electronic information exchange tasks, such tasks including the transfer of data files, the transfer of electronic communications, video teleconferencing, remote tasking, and many other computer related functions.
Computer networks have not always been readily available and they have not always been easy to use. When computers were first created, they were stand-alone devices that performed functions for particular local users. As the capability of computers increased and many organizations acquired computers, the ability to pass data between different computers was required. Thus, techniques were devised to intercouple computers. Further, techniques were devised to allow multiple users to access a single computer, such xe2x80x9ctime sharingxe2x80x9d a form of networking users. Some installations used RS232 serial lines to couple large numbers of remote terminals to a central computer. Such networking of remote terminals to shared central resources allowed employees to share programs and data on the central computer. Further, computers were also intercoupled by leased telephone lines so that computers could share data with one another. These intercomputer communications were extensively managed so that they were relatively secure and reliable.
As technology progressed, users began to favor the use of smaller computers, e.g., personal computers (PCs), instead of centrally located computers. However, because PCs were stand-alone machines that typically supported a single user, data and program sharing was difficult. Typically, a transportable medium such as a diskette was used to pass data between PCs. To address this issue, local area networks (LANs) became popular for linking proximately located PCs. A LAN is a tight network of related machines that are typically confined to a room or a building, and hence are considered to be local to one another. Needs also arose to couple PCs of remotely located offices, each of which had a LAN. The wide area network (WAN), which is a variation of a local area network, was introduced to meet this need. WANs include links which intercouple remotely located separate machines or remotely located separate LANs. The WANs most commonly used dedicated leased telephone lines supporting services such as ISDN, Frame Relay and ATM to couple the remote locations. Thus, both LANs and WANs are private computer networks that serve the particular communication requirements of a managed organization.
As usage of PCs proliferated, many users desired to communicate with other users. However, these users were not connected by a LAN or WAN. In response to this need, service providers such as AOL, Prodigy, Compuserve and others established private computer networks that could be accessed for a fee. These networks allowed subscribers to exchange data and also to archive substantial amounts of information that was made available to other subscribers. These services initially started as bulletin board services (BBSs) with BBS network links typically implemented using plain old telephone lines and modems via a dial-up connection. While a modem bank operated by the BBS service provider had a fixed location, subscriber calls could originate from any location. The BBSs facilitated data exchange among the subscribers to the BBSs. However, access to the BBSs was limited to the subscribers to the BBS.
To provide more flexibility in computer to computer communications, various open networks were created over the years to service computer communications. Examples of these open networks include, for example, FIDONET, AOL, ARPANET, USENET, COMPUSERVE, and the Internet. The Internet is in many ways the culmination of the evolution of these open networks. These various open networks employed differing techniques to support computer to computer communications. FIDONET, for example, was a network of a large number of loosely collected machines that used the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to link from machine to machine. Each computer contained tables of addresses and phone numbers of the various FIDONET members that allowed the computer to communicate with other FIDONET members. Data was passed from machine to machine via phone calls over the PSTN until it finally reached its destination member. Each machine used a local configuration table to determine the destination for the next hop. Six or more hops were not uncommon for data communications. Long distance calls would be needed when data was to change area codes etc.
USENET used a similar scheme of local routing tables and multiple hops, but the USENET network also included data pooling, which allowed high bandwidth leased lines to be used, when available, for data transfer. By using the high bandwidth leased lines, long distance telephone charges were minimized since the companies procuring the leased lines typically did not charge for using the xe2x80x9cexcess capacityxe2x80x9d of the leased lines. ARPANET was a more fully developed network that was funded by DARPA and the NSF. It was the combination of ARPANET and USENET that lead to the formation of the Internet. Hence, FIDONET, USENET, ARPANET, and the Internet have many features in common since they service a network of general purpose computers and employ multiple hops for data to move from a source to a destination.
All of these conventional networks have many serious shortcomings. For example, FIDONET, USENET, ARPANET, and Internet, all cause data to be exposed to numerous general purpose computers while it is being routed. These general purpose computers may be running programs such as sniffers which look for credit card numbers or which copy messages for possible dissemination. Due to the multiple hops, data may be lost. Also, as the origin of the data becomes ambiguous, senders can easily be anonymous or lie about their identity, reducing the risk of their being found out for violating privacy. As examples, it is not uncommon for an email message to be lost without the sender learning that it never reached its destination, and it is not uncommon to receive mail from a spammer and not be able to tell where it came from. All of these items make commerce on such networks as the Internet difficult to accomplish in a simple and secure manner. Further, buffering and pooling of data produces latencies in data transmission that make the transfer of real time information such as audio and video difficult. So again, simple actions such as sending a video phone call, listening to a news broadcast, viewing motion graphics, are all very difficult to perform on networks such as the Internet.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a communication device and supporting network infrastructure that overcomes these shortcomings and others related to computer communications.
Various terminologies are unique to the description of the present invention. A xe2x80x9cdynamic manifest networkxe2x80x9d is a computer network having a plurality of xe2x80x9cnetwork membersxe2x80x9d communicating with one another through dynamically created xe2x80x9cchannels.xe2x80x9d These channels are also referred to as xe2x80x9clinks.xe2x80x9d Once created, these links form direct connections between network members. However, links in the dynamic manifest network may change (be created and destroyed) from moment to moment. Links may be established in a circuit switched network such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), thus avoiding the need for special packet switching hardware that is used in other data networks. The links may also be established in a packet switched network such as the Internet. To distinguish a packet data network link from a circuit switched network xe2x80x9clinkxe2x80x9d, a packet data network link may be identified as a xe2x80x9cpseudo link.xe2x80x9d The term xe2x80x9ccallxe2x80x9d is also used herein to describe the creation of a link via the PSTN or another network.
A xe2x80x9cmetanetworkxe2x80x9d is a computer representable mathematical model of the dynamic manifest network. This model is used for analysis and optimization of a dynamic manifest network, for control of a dynamic manifest network and for other purposes relating to the dynamic manifest network. A xe2x80x9clocal viewxe2x80x9d of a dynamic manifest network is control information derived from the metanetwork that is appropriate for a single node in the dynamic manifest network. Thus, each network member uses its local view to direct link formation and subsequent communication to other network members. The local view contains xe2x80x9ccommunication rules,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cstructure information,xe2x80x9d and other items that guide the functionality of the network members.
Thus, to overcome the shortcomings of the prior devices, as well as other shortcomings, a dynamically configured user network according to the present invention services a plurality of network members. A metanetwork definition identifies the members of the dynamic manifest network and provides the rules by which the network members establish links among themselves and communicate. Each of the network members employs a client communication device to communicate with another network member according to the metanetwork definition. Another centrally located computer, a network friend, may assist in setting upon and managing the dynamic manifest network by creating and altering the metanetwork definition. Management functions include receiving feedback from dynamic manifest members and using the feedback to modify the metanetwork definition.
At a minimum, each client communication device includes a network interface, a processor and an interface to a coupled computer or to a client. The client communication device may include a voice interface, a display, a disk drive (or other storage), a network interface and other components. The client communication device may take differing forms to provide telephone functions and PC functions along with the communication functions it provides. The network friend has the basic structure of a web server and may facilitate transactions via the Internet and/or the PSTN.
A metanetwork definition is setup by an initiating network member. Setup operations may be performed in a stand-alone mode or via interaction between the initiating network member and a network friend. In setting up a dynamic manifest network, a plurality of network members are identified, communication rules among the network members are established and a metanetwork definition is created for the dynamic manifest network from this information. The metanetwork definition defines the dynamic manifest network and how communications will occur within the dynamic manifest network. A local view of the metanetwork is then created for each network member. A respective local view of the metanetwork is then provided to each network member. Each network member then establishes links with other network members and communicates with the other network members according to the local view.
In one operation, all dynamic manifest network links are established across the PSTN, which provides security advantages not available by using the Internet. Thus, communications across the links are inherently secure based upon the communication network employed. Further, authentication rules are set in place so that, prior to the exchange of a communication between network members across a link (two network members) the network members authenticate each other. Further, once the network members have authenticated each other, encryption/decryption rules may be enacted to further secure the communications across the link.
In other embodiments, communications pass across other networks as well, including the Internet. In such operations, if the networks are inherently unsecure, such as the Internet, techniques must be employed to enhance the security of the link. Encryption/decryption techniques may be employed in which at least one token is provided across a secure link and used for communications passing across the Internet. In other operations, the links are managed so that the risk of communications being intercepted upon the Internet in a useful form is substantially reduced.
Moreover, other aspects of the present invention will become apparent with further reference to the drawings and specification, which follow.